Page "Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania" Paragraph 4

The community was founded in 1734.

The legend of the naming of Bird-in-Hand concerns the time when the Old Philadelphia Pike was surveyed between Lancaster and Philadelphia.

According to legend two road surveyors discussed whether they should stay at their present location or go on to the town of Lancaster.

One of them supposedly said, " A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush ," which means it is preferable to have a small but certain advantage than the mere potential of a greater one ; and so they stayed.

By 1734, road surveyors were making McNabb ’ s hotel their headquarters rather than returning to Lancaster every day.

The sign in front of the inn is known to have once " portrayed a man with a bird in his hand and a bush nearby, in which two birds were perched ," and was known as the Bird-in-Hand Inn.

Variations of this sign appear throughout the town today.